Democrats and faith

Listening to NPR this morning, we heard this story on Tim Kaine's successful campaign in Virginia. Even though he is a Catholic democrat, he took out ads on Christian radio, and according to all observers, was able to convince Virginia voters that his faith was an important and valued part of his life. The rest of the story told how Democrats everywhere are trying to figure out how to address this, because most of them believe that they can't just cede the religious vote to the right.

On one hand, I agree with that. I agree with Howard Dean and Jim Wallis that democratic issues are moral issues. Budgets and the environment and how we take care of the poor are all moral issues.

But I wonder about Democrats trying to learn how to speak the language of faith. I am still angry that conservative christians have made religious faith a requirement for their political support. I oppose this for many reasons, including the fact that the constitution bans such religious litmus tests, but also because I think the recent past shows just how bad conservative christians are at discerning the faith of their religious leaders.

After all, if you still defend Tom Delay as a good christian man (as Dobson and most members of the religious right have) then you show just how little you really care about the faith of Christianity, and instead how much you value the faith of the Republican party. SOF made that point this morning, and I think it is a good one. If your faith is in conservatism, then you really don't expect Delay to treat people with compassion or love--especially if his enemies are liberals and democrats.

Religious faith isn't just another marketing demographic to sell t-shirts and bad Mel Gibson movies. It isn't just another wedge issue to divide people. It is an important part of many American's lives. And politicians, with the help of religious conservatives, are cheapening and using that.

I understand why the Democrats are doing this, but I would prefer something else. I would prefer politicians who are honest with the people and say, "you want good governance more than you want a televangelist in office. You want people who will make good policy and will act with integrity and compassion and justice. You want people who will treat their friends well and their political enemies with dignity and respect. It shouldn't matter to you if I read the Bible or not--go to church or not." That is what I would like.

Instead we have Tom Delay and George Bush and their supposed faith. As liberals, we must do better than that.